The Slavic sword is a weapon that in our time is considered a real relic and is in particular demand among collectors. But not everyone knows that such bladed weapons once existed.
Historical reference
Official historical science claims that the Russian State was formed in 862. However, some sources try to refute this fact, as if in reality pre-Christian statehood arose at the beginning of our era. Our distant ancestors mastered the art of war well, even from childhood. The harsh life and the specifics of that environment forced me to do this.
Mentally returning to that era, you can imagine the conditions in which our ancestors had to live: wild nature, small settlements separated by long distances and poor communications. How to protect yourself from numerous raids and escape from internecine conflicts? The Slavic sword was supposed to protect ancient people from enemies.
Ancient weapon
All types of bladed weapons common in that era, be it a spear, an ax or an ax, were mastered to perfection. But still preference was given to the sword. IN in capable hands it was a formidable weapon that was associated not only with strength, but also with power and valor.
The impressive size and considerable weight of the Slavic sword required its owner to have physical training in order to be able to crush opponents with accurate and powerful blows. Every boy of that time dreamed of getting it. The Slavic sword was made by hand by blacksmiths and special craftsmen. It was presented as a gift in honor of respect. Only brave men could boast of such weapons in their homes.
Device
What was a Slavic sword? The wide warhead, called the blade, had some narrowing near the tip. Often there were swords with a shallow and narrow groove running along the middle line of the blade. According to the version based on the legends of the Slavs, the blood of the defeated enemy flowed along this very “vale”. A more plausible explanation is the role of this element: the lighter weight of the sword made it easier to wield.
The detailed description of the Russian sword by Biruni, a scientist from Khorezm who lived in the Middle Ages, is considered interesting. Warhead made of solid steel called shapurkan. The middle part, where the valley passed, on the contrary, should be plastic, that is, contain soft iron. It was thanks to such a cleverly thought-out device that the Slavic sword was very strong to withstand powerful blows, but also not fragile.
Original design
Can't be ignored appearance. The handle and guard are admirable in terms of design. The guard is an element of the sword in the form of a crosshair, which was located between the handle and the blade, protecting the warrior’s hand from enemy blows. The sword, in the manufacture of which the master put his whole soul into, was truly a masterpiece, a work of art. What is surprising is the jewelry precision and complexity of the patterns, the elements of which were such popular symbols of the time as Inglia (Primary Fire), Svyatodar, Kolovrat (solstice).
Magic drawings were also present on the blade itself. The inlay of the handle with precious stones emphasized the fact of how reverently the owner treated it. The Slavic sword is a talisman for its owner. It was an honor to take a weapon from the enemy, but sometimes such trophies only brought misfortune. People believed that this was due to witchcraft.
Who was allowed to carry a sword and when?
Everything indicates that the Slavic sword was not perceived as a weapon in the usual sense. It was worn every day only by representatives of the elite - the prince and his warriors. This privilege did not extend to ordinary citizens during the period between hostilities. Ignoring this rule of etiquette indicated bad manners, and it could also be interpreted as a sign of disrespect for those who occupied high position in society.
A sword is not an object of decoration that can be displayed, but, first of all, a weapon to protect one’s native land from the encroachment of enemies. A true warrior must have such a weapon. Women tried not to touch the “toys” of men. The Slavic sword occupied a special place in the life of every prince. Photos of the cold weapon are published by many archaeologists who discovered this expensive find.
The meaning of the sword in the life of the Slavs
The Slavs had a kind of sword that the representatives of the stronger half of the older generation passed on to their heirs. Moreover, often a father with almost beggarly income could not leave behind his son anything other than a sword. Formidable weapon gave the opportunity to a brave and valiant warrior to become famous in military combat and, if he was lucky, to improve his financial situation.
It is characteristic that Russian speech is replete with many verbal expressions containing the term “sword”, the use of which emphasized the importance of the Slavic sword. Here are some examples. The legendary phrase uttered by Alexander Nevsky about what awaits the enemy who comes with a sword to Russian soil is passed down from mouth to mouth. Thus, the great commander not only warned the Teutonic knights. The phrase became not only popular, but also prophetic, as proven by the centuries-old history of Russia. The following phrases are less known: “to take the sword against” was used as a sign of a call to start hostilities, and the laconic phrase “to take the sword” served as a call to capture the enemy’s fortress or foreign territory with the subsequent strengthening of positions.
Around the beginning of the 13th century, the following trend can be traced. Gunsmiths from different regions of Rus' stopped adhering to uniform standards when making swords; varieties of swords appeared that differed from each other in weight and shape. This continued until the 19th century.
The Slavic sword is often used as a tattoo. The image symbolizes perseverance, power, fortitude, and in a sense serves the patriotic education of the current and all subsequent generations of the Russian people.
Weapons, as a means of attack and defense, appeared in ancient times. The first fighting instruments were sharpened tree branches that helped to somehow resist the fangs of wild animals. With the development of civilization, man began to defend himself not so much from animals, but from himself.
The history of human civilization is the history of continuous wars, the history of the struggle for freedom and independence of man, in which weapons played main role. Weapons on the side of the defenders made it possible to stop the aggressor, maintain peace and save thousands of human lives.
History teacher Vladimir Gennadievich opens a new section in which he will talk about the development of Russian weapons since Ancient Rus' and until now.
Weapons of Ancient Rus'
Sword
Sword in Ancient Rus' period X-XII centuries was the privileged weapon of a free warrior, most valued and dear to him. The sword was a melee weapon and was used to inflict slashing, piercing and cutting damage.
Russian sword.
The sword consisted of a blade, guard and hilt. Swords were divided into:
- short- one-handed swords up to 60 cm long, most often used in conjunction with a shield;
- long- one-handed swords from 60 to 115 cm, used in conjunction with a shield or dagger;
- two-handed- heavy swords, intended for use with only two hands, 152 cm long and weighing from 3.5 to 5 kg. A particularly heavy two-handed sword weighed up to 8 kg and could reach a length of up to 2 m.
At the dawn of the development of blacksmithing, the sword was considered a priceless treasure, so no one even thought of giving it to the earth. This also explains the rarity of archaeological finds of swords.
While making the sword, the blacksmith said prayers to give the blade special power. Words of spells were intertwined on the blade and hilt. Often the sword took part in ritual initiation, the transformation of a boy into a husband. An unshakable belief in the power of weapons gave strength during the brutal battle.
Saber
Saber? as a type of cutting and piercing weapon? appeared in the East and became widespread among nomads Central Asia in the 7th-8th centuries. On the territory of Ancient Rus' it appears at the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th centuries and in some places later competes with the sword.
Russian damask sabers with a slightly curved blade were similar to Turkish ones. The blade had a one-sided sharpening, which made it possible to increase strength by thickening the butt. The saber could be bent at an angle of ninety degrees without the risk of breaking it. The length of the saber was about 90 cm, weight - 800-1000 g. The saber began to spread as a weapon of an equestrian warrior, because the sword was inconvenient for the rider due to its heaviness. Due to the curvature of the blade, the saber made it possible to strike from top to bottom, with a pullback, which increased the effectiveness of the strike. But in battles with Scandinavian warriors this was ineffective, so the saber did not take root in the north.
Early Russian saber
There were two types of saber blades in Rus': Khazar-Polovtsian And Turkish (scimitar). Presumably, the synthesis of these types was the third - Yaloman, which was widespread only in the eastern principalities. Yalomani is characterized by a sharp leaf-shaped expansion of the front combat end.
Battle ax
An ax is a melee weapon (with the exception of throwing axes) capable of causing slashing or crushing damage. The main task of this weapon is to penetrate the enemy's armor. Depending on the size, axes were classified into light, medium and heavy. Axes included axes and throwing axes. Initially, the butt of the axes was made of stone. Obtaining bronze made it possible to increase the strength of the ax. But the real revolution in the manufacture of the ax was made by the mastery of iron, which increased the capabilities of this weapon several times
The axes were effective against an enemy clad in armor; due to their mass, they crushed the enemy’s armor. On the back side of the blade, on the butt, battle axes had a sharp (tooth-like) hook that pierced the armor right through. Battle axes were used mainly in the north, in the forest zone, where the cavalry could not turn around. Light battle axes were also used by horsemen.
Variety battle ax were axes. They were a butt mounted on a long axe. Gunsmith specialists call the piercing-cutting version of a sword on a shaft an axe.
Ax of the X-XII centuries.
Battle axes in the hands of a skilled warrior were formidable weapons.
A spear
The spear was a piercing, polearm weapon. It was the favorite weapon of Russian warriors and militias. It was a steel (damask steel) or iron tip mounted on a long, 180-220 cm shaft, made of durable wood. The weight of the tip was 200-400 grams, the length was up to half a meter.
The core of the Russian army were spearmen - warriors? armed with spears. The combat effectiveness of an army was measured by the number of spears. Spearmen are a force created specifically for attacking and starting a decisive battle. The distinction of spearmen was due to the exceptional effectiveness of their weapons. The ramming action of a spear strike often determined the outcome of the battle. In the ranks of the spearmen there were professionally trained warriors who owned the entire range of combat weapons.
Old Russian spear
Spears were used not only by mounted warriors to fight foot warriors, but to varying degrees they were also used by infantry to fight horsemen. They carried spears on their backs or simply in their hands; often they were carried behind the army, tied in a bundle.
So, we looked at the most common types of weapons of Ancient Rus'. We will continue the topic in the next issues. Follow the TutorOnline blog for updates.
Sources used in preparing the material: B. N. Zayakin, Old Russian military art
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Slavic warrior 6-7 centuries
Information about the earliest types of weapons of the ancient Slavs comes from two groups of sources. The first is written evidence mainly from late Roman and Byzantine authors who knew well these barbarians who often attacked the Eastern Roman Empire. The second is materials from archaeological excavations, which generally confirm the data of Menander, John of Ephesus and others. Later sources covering the state of military affairs and, in particular, the weapons of the era of Kievan Rus, and then the Russian principalities of the pre-Mongol period, in addition to archaeological ones, include reports from Arab authors, and then the Russian chronicles themselves and the historical chronicles of our neighbors. Valuable sources for this period are also visual materials: miniatures, frescoes, icons, small sculptures, etc.
Byzantine authors repeatedly testified, that the Slavs of the 5th – 7th centuries. had no defensive weapons except shields (the presence of which among the Slavs was noted by Tacitus in the 2nd century AD) (1). Their offensive weapons were extremely simple: a pair of darts (2). It can also be assumed that many, if not all, had bows, which are mentioned much less frequently. There is no doubt that the Slavs also had axes, but they are not mentioned as weapons.
This is fully confirmed by the results of archaeological studies of the territory where the Eastern Slavs settled at the time of the formation of Kievan Rus. In addition to the ubiquitous arrowheads and throwing arrows, less often spears, only two cases are known when in the layers of the 7th - 8th centuries. more advanced weapons were found: armor plates from excavations of the Khotomel military settlement in Belarusian Polesie and fragments of a broadsword from the Martynovsky treasure in Porosye. In both cases, these are elements of the Avar weapons complex, which is natural, because in the previous period it was the Avars who had the greatest influence on the Eastern Slavs.
In the second half of the 9th century., the activation of the path “from the Varangians to the Greeks” led to an increase in Scandinavian influence on the Slavs, including in the field of military affairs. As a result of its merger with the steppe influence, on the local Slavic soil in the middle Dnieper region, its own original ancient Russian weapons complex began to take shape, rich and universal, more diverse than in the West or East. Absorbing Byzantine elements, it was mainly formed by the beginning of the 11th century. (3)
Viking swords
The defensive weapons of a noble warrior from the time of the first Rurikovichs included P a tall shield (Norman type), a helmet (usually Asian, pointed), plate or ringed armor. The main weapons were a sword (much less often a saber), a spear, a battle axe, a bow and arrows. Flails and darts - sulitsa - were used as additional weapons.
The warrior's body was protected chainmail, which looked like a mid-thigh length shirt made of metal rings, or armor made of horizontal rows of metal plates tied together with straps. Making chain mail required a lot of time and physical effort. First, wire was made by hand drawing, which was wrapped around a metal rod and cut. One piece of chain mail required about 600 m of wire. Half of the rings were welded, and the ends of the rest were flattened. Holes less than a millimeter in diameter were punched at the flattened ends and riveted, having previously connected this ring with four other already woven rings. The weight of one chain mail was approximately 6.5 kg.
Until relatively recently, it was believed that it took several months to make ordinary chain mail, but recent research has refuted these speculative theories. Making a typical small chain mail of 20 thousand rings in the 10th century. took “only” 200 man-hours, i.e. one workshop could “deliver” up to 15 or more pieces of armor in a month. (4) After assembly, the chain mail was cleaned and polished with sand until it was shiny.
In Western Europe, canvas cloaks with short sleeves were worn over armor, protecting them from dust and overheating in the sun. This rule was often followed in Rus' (as evidenced by the miniatures of the Radziwill Chronicle of the 15th century). However, the Russians sometimes liked to appear on the battlefield in open armor, “as if in ice,” for greater effect. Such cases are specifically mentioned by the chroniclers: “And it’s scary to see someone in bare armor, like water to the sun shining brightly.” A particularly striking example is given by the Swedish “Chronicle of Eric,” although it goes beyond the scope of our study (XIV century): “When the Russians arrived there, they could see a lot of light armor, their helmets and swords shone; I believe that they went on a campaign in the Russian way.” And further: “...they shone like the sun, their weapons were so beautiful in appearance...” (5).
It has long been believed that chain mail in Rus' appeared from Asia, supposedly even two centuries earlier than in Western Europe (6), but now the opinion has become established that this type of protective weapon is an invention of the Celts, known here since the 4th century. BC, used by the Romans and by the middle of the first millennium AD. reached Western Asia (7). Actually, the production of chain mail arose in Rus' no later than the 10th century (8)
From the end of the 12th century. the appearance of the chain mail has changed. Armor with long sleeves, knee-length hem, chain mail stockings, gauntlets and hoods appeared. They were no longer made from round cross-sections, but from flat rings. The collar was made square, split, with a shallow cutout. In total, one chain mail now required up to 25 thousand rings, and by the end of the 13th century - up to 30 of different diameters (9).
Unlike Western Europe in Rus', where the influence of the East was felt, at that time there was a different system of defensive weapons - lamellar or “plank armor”, called by experts lamellar armor . Such armor consisted of metal plates connected to each other and pushed over each other. The most ancient “armors” were made of rectangular convex metal plates with holes along the edges through which straps were threaded, tightening the plates together. Later, the plates were made in various shapes: square, semicircular, etc., up to 2 mm thick. Early belt-mounted armor was worn over a thick leather or quilted jacket or, according to Khazar-Magyar custom, over chain mail. In the XIV century. the archaic term “armor” was replaced by the word “armour”, and in the 15th century a new term appeared, borrowed from the Greek language, “shell”.
The lamellar shell weighed slightly more than ordinary chain mail - up to 10 kg. According to some researchers, the cut of Russian armor from the times of Kievan Rus differed from the steppe prototypes, which consisted of two cuirasses - chest and back, and was similar to the Byzantine one (cut on the right shoulder and side) (10). According to tradition, going through Byzantium from ancient Rome, the shoulders and hem of such armor were decorated with leather strips covered with inlaid plaques, which is confirmed by works of art (icons, frescoes, miniatures, stone items).
Byzantine influence e manifested itself in the borrowing of scale armor. The plates of such armor were attached to a fabric or leather base with their upper part and overlapped the row below, like tiles or scales. On the sides, the plates of each row overlapped one another, and in the middle they were still riveted to the base. Most of these shells found by archaeologists date back to the 13th – 14th centuries, but they have been known since the 11th century. They were hip-length; the hem and sleeves were made from longer plates. Compared to the plate lamellar shell, the scaly one was more elastic and flexible. Convex scales attached only on one side. They gave the warrior greater mobility.
Chain mail dominated quantitatively throughout the early Middle Ages, but in the 13th century it began to be replaced by plate and scale armor. During the same period, combined armor appeared that combined both of these types.
The characteristic spheroconic pointed helmets did not immediately gain dominance in Rus'. Early protective headdresses differed significantly from each other, which was a consequence of the penetration of different influences into the East Slavic lands. Thus, in the Gnezdovo burial mounds in the Smolensk region, of the two helmets found in the 9th century. one turned out to be hemispherical, consisting of two halves, connected by stripes along the lower edge and along the ridge from the forehead to the back of the head, the second was typically Asian, consisting of four triangular parts with a pommel, a lower rim and four vertical stripes covering the connecting seams. The second had brow cutouts and a nosepiece, and was decorated with gilding and a pattern of teeth and notches along the rim and stripes. Both helmets had chain mail aventails - nets that covered the lower part of the face and neck. Two helmets from Chernigov, dating back to the 10th century, are close in manufacturing method and decoration to the second Gnezdov helmet. They are also of the Asian, pointed type and are topped with finials with sleeves for plumes. In the middle part of these helmets there are rhombic linings with protruding spikes. These helmets are believed to be of Magyar origin (11).
The northern, Varangian influence was manifested in the Kyiv discovery of a fragment of a half-mask-mask - a typically Scandinavian part of a helmet.
Since the 11th century, a unique type of sphero-conical helmet, smoothly curved upward, ending in a rod, has developed and taken hold in Rus'. Its indispensable element was a fixed “nose”. And often a half mask with decorative elements combined with it. From the 12th century helmets were usually forged from a single sheet of iron. Then a separately made half mask was riveted to it, and later - a mask - a mask that completely covered the face, which is generally believed to be of Asian origin. Such masks became especially widespread from the beginning of the 13th century, in connection with the pan-European tendency to make protective weapons heavier. The face mask with slits for the eyes and holes for breathing was able to protect against both slashing and piercing blows. Since it was attached motionlessly, the soldiers had to take off their helmet in order to be recognized. From the 13th century known helmets with visors on a hinge, folding upward, like a visor.
Somewhat later, a high spheroconic helmet appeared with a domed one. There were also helmets of a unique shape - with brims and a cylindrical-conical top (known from miniatures). Under all types of helmets it was necessary to wear a balaclava - “prilbitsa”. These round and apparently low hats were often made with a fur trim. The chain mail aventail, attached to the edges of the helmet and half mask, could reach the size of a cape covering the shoulders and upper chest.
As mentioned above, shields have been an integral part of Slavic weapons since ancient times. Initially, they were woven from wicker rods and covered with leather, like all the barbarians of Europe. Later, during the time of Kievan Rus, they began to be made from boards. The height of the shields was close to the height of a person, and the Greeks considered them “difficult to carry.” Round shields of the Scandinavian type, up to 90 cm in diameter, also existed in Rus' during this period. In the center of both, a round cut was made with a handle, covered from the outside with a convex umbon. The edge of the shield was necessarily bound with metal. Often its outer side was covered with skin. XI century teardrop-shaped (otherwise known as “almond-shaped”) of the pan-European type, widely known from various images, have spread. At the same time, round funnel-shaped shields also appeared, but flat round shields continued to be found. By the 13th century, when they increased protective properties helmet, the upper edge of the teardrop-shaped shield straightened, since there was no longer a need to protect the face with it. The shield becomes triangular, with a deflection in the middle, which made it possible to press it tightly to the body. At the same time, trapezoidal and quadrangular shields also existed. At that time there were also round ones, of the Asian type, with a lining on the back side, fastened to the arm with two belt “columns”. This type most likely existed among the service nomads of the southern Kiev region and along the entire steppe border.
It is known that shields of different shapes existed for a long time and were used simultaneously ( The best illustration of this situation is the famous icon “The Church Militant"). The shape of the shield mainly depended on the tastes and habits of the owner.
The main part of the outer surface of the shield, between the umbo and the bound edge, the so-called “crown,” was called the border and was painted to the owner’s taste, but throughout the use of shields in the Russian army, preference was given to various shades of red. In addition to the monochromatic coloring, it can also be assumed that the shields will contain images of a heraldic nature. So on the wall of the St. George Cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky, on the shield of St. George, a predator of the cat family is depicted - a maneless lion, or rather a tiger - the “fierce beast” of Monomakh’s “Teachings”, apparently, which became the state emblem of the Vladimir-Suzdal principality.
Swords of the 9th-12th centuries from Ust-Rybezhka and Ruchiev.
“The sword is the main weapon of a professional warrior throughout the entire pre-Mongol period of Russian history,” wrote the outstanding Russian archaeologist A.V. Artsikhovsky. “In the early Middle Ages, the shape of swords in Rus' and Western Europe was approximately the same” (12).
After clearing hundreds of blades dating back to the period of the formation of Kievan Rus, stored in museums in different European countries, including the former USSR, it turned out that the vast majority of them were produced in several centers located on the Upper Rhine, within the Frankish state. This explains their similarity.
Swords forged in the 9th – 11th centuries, originating from the ancient Roman long cavalry sword - spatha, had a wide and heavy blade, although not too long - about 90 cm, with parallel blades and a wide fuller (groove). Sometimes there are swords with a rounded end, indicating that this weapon was originally used exclusively as a chopping weapon, although from the chronicles there are examples of stabbing blows already at the end of the 10th century, when two Varangians, with the knowledge of Vladimir Svyatoslavich, met a brother walking towards him at the door - the overthrown Yaropolk, pierced him “under the sinuses” (13).
With an abundance of Latin marks (as a rule, these are abbreviations, for example, INND - In Nomine Domini, In Nomine Dei - In the name of the Lord, In the name of God), a considerable percentage of blades do not have marks or cannot be identified. At the same time, only one Russian mark was found: “Lyudosha (Lyudota?) Farrier.” One Slavic mark is also known, made with Latin letters, - “Zvenislav”, probably of Polish origin. There is no doubt that local production of swords already existed in Kievan Rus in the 10th century, but perhaps local blacksmiths branded their products less often?
Sheaths and hilts for imported blades were made locally. Just as massive as the blade of the Frankish sword was its short, thick guard. The hilt of these swords has a flattened mushroom shape. The actual handle of the sword was made of wood, horn, bone or leather, and the outside was often wrapped with twisted bronze or silver wire. It seems that the differences in the styles of decorative design of the details of the handles and scabbards actually have much less significance than some researchers think, and there is no basis for deducing from this the percentage of a particular nationality in the squad. The same master could master both different technical techniques and different styles and decorate the weapon in accordance with the wishes of the customer, and it could simply depend on fashion. The scabbard was made of wood and covered with expensive leather or velvet, and decorated with gold, silver or bronze overlays. The tip of the scabbard was often decorated with some intricate symbolic figure.
Swords of the 9th-11th centuries, as in ancient times, continued to be worn on a shoulder belt, raised quite high, so that the hilt was above the waist. From the 12th century, the sword, as elsewhere in Europe, began to be worn on a knight's belt, on the hips, suspended by two rings at the mouth of the scabbard.
During the XI - XII centuries. the sword gradually changed its shape. Its blade lengthened, sharpened, thinned, the crosspiece - the guard - stretched out, the hilt first took on the shape of a ball, then, in the 13th century, a flattened circle. By that time the sword had turned into a slashing weapon piercing weapon. At the same time, there was a tendency to make it heavier. “One and a half” samples appeared, for working with two hands.
Speaking about the fact that the sword was the weapon of a professional warrior, it should be remembered that it was such only in the early Middle Ages, although exceptions for merchants and the old tribal nobility existed even then. Later, in the 12th century. the sword also appears in the hands of the townspeople's militia. At the same time in early period, before the start of mass, serial production of weapons, not every warrior owned a sword. In the 9th - first half of the 11th centuries, only a person who belonged to the highest stratum of society - the senior squad - had the right (and opportunity) to possess precious, noble weapons. In the younger squad, judging by the materials of excavations of squad burials, back in the 11th century. Only officials owned swords. These are the commanders of detachments of junior warriors - “youths”, in Peaceful time performed police, judicial, customs and other functions and had a characteristic name - “swordsmen” (14).
In the southern regions of Ancient Rus', from the second half of the 10th century, the saber, borrowed from the arsenal of nomads, became widespread. In the north, in the Novgorod land, the saber came into use much later - in the 13th century. It consisted of a strip - the blade and a "roof" - the handle. The blade had a blade, two sides - “holomeni” and “rear”. The handle was assembled from a “flint” - a guard, a handle and a knob - a hilt, into which a cord - a lanyard - was threaded through a small hole. The ancient saber was massive, slightly curved, so much so that the rider could use it, like a sword, to stab someone lying on a sleigh, which is mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years. The saber was used in parallel with the sword in the areas bordering the Steppe. To the north and west, heavy armor was common, against which the saber was not suitable. To fight the light cavalry of the nomads, the saber was preferable. The author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” noted a characteristic feature of the weapons of the inhabitants of the steppe Kursk: “they... have sharp sabers...” (15). From the 11th to the 13th centuries, the saber in the hands of Russian soldiers is mentioned in chronicles only three times, and the sword – 52 times.
Cutting and piercing weapons also include a large combat knife, occasionally found in burials no later than the 10th century, the skramasax, a relic of the barbarian era, a typical weapon of the Germans, found throughout Europe. Combat knives have long been known in Rus' and are constantly found during excavations. They are distinguished from economic ones by their large length (over 15 cm), the presence of a lobe - a blood flow or a stiffening rib (rhombic cross-section) (16).
A very common cutting weapon in the ancient Russian army was the ax, which had several varieties, which was determined by differences both in combat use and in origin. In the IX-X centuries. The heavy infantry were armed with large axes - axes with a powerful trapezoidal blade. Appearing in Rus' as a Norman borrowing, this type of ax remained for a long time in the north-west. The length of the ax handle was determined by the height of the owner. Usually, exceeding a meter, it reached the gudi of a standing warrior.
Universal battle hatchets of the Slavic type for one-handed action, with a smooth butt and a small blade, with a beard drawn downwards, have become much more widespread.. They differed from a regular ax mainly in their smaller weight and size, as well as the presence in the middle of the blade in many specimens of a hole for attaching a cover.
Another variety was the cavalry hatchet - a hammered hatchet with a narrow wedge-shaped blade, balanced by a hammer-shaped butt or, less commonly, a claw - clearly of Eastern origin. There was also a transitional type with a hammer-shaped butt, but a wide, often equilateral blade. It is also classified as Slavic. The well-known hatchet with the initial “A”, attributed to Andrei Bogolyubsky, belongs to this type. All three types are very small in size and fit in the palm of your hand. The length of their ax – “cue” – reached a meter.
Unlike the sword, a weapon primarily of the “noble”, hatchets were the main weapon of the junior squad, at least its lowest category - the “youths”. As recent studies of the Kem squad burial mound near White Lake show, the presence of a battle hatchet in the burial in the absence of a sword clearly indicates that its owner belonged to the lower category of professional warriors, at least until the second half of the 11th century (17). At the same time, in the hands of the prince, a battle ax is mentioned in the chronicle only twice.
Melee weapons include striking weapons. Due to the ease of production, it became widespread in Rus'. These are, first of all, various kinds of maces and flails borrowed from the steppe people.
The mace - most often a bronze ball filled with lead, with pyramidal projections and a hole for a handle weighing 200 - 300 g - was widespread in the 12th - 13th centuries. in the average Dnieper region (in third place in the number of weapons finds). But in the north and northeast it is practically not found. Solid forged iron and, less commonly, stone maces are also known.
The mace is a weapon primarily used in equestrian combat, but undoubtedly was also widely used by infantry. It made it possible to deliver very fast short blows, which, although not fatal, stunned the enemy and incapacitated him. Hence the modern “stun”, i.e. “stun”, with a blow to the helmet - get ahead of the enemy while he swings a heavy sword. The mace (as well as a boot knife or hatchet) could also be used as throwing weapon, which seems to be evidenced by the Ipatiev Chronicle, calling it a “horn.”
Flail- a weight of various shapes made of metal, stone, horn or bone, usually bronze or iron, usually round, often drop-shaped or star-shaped, weighing 100 - 160 g on a belt up to half a meter long - was, judging by frequent finds, very popular everywhere in Rus', however, it had no independent significance in battle.
The rare mention in sources of the use of impact weapons is explained, on the one hand, by the fact that they were auxiliary, backup, spare, and on the other, by the poeticization of “noble” weapons: the spear and sword. After a ramming spear collision, having “broken” the long thin lances, the fighters took up swords (sabers) or hammered axes, and only in case of their breakage or loss came the turn of maces and flails. By the end of the 12th century, in connection with the beginning of mass production of bladed weapons, hammered hatchets also became a backup weapon. At this time, the butt of the hatchet sometimes takes on the shape of a mace, and the mace is equipped with a long spike curved downward. As a result of these experiments, at the beginning of the 13th century in Rus', archaeologists noted the appearance of a new type of impact weapon - the shestoper. To date, three samples of iron eight-bladed pommels of a rounded shape with smoothly protruding edges have been discovered. They were found in settlements south and west of Kyiv (18).
A spear- the most important element of the Russian warrior’s weapons during the period under review. Spearheads, after arrowheads, are the most common archaeological finds of weapons. The spear was undoubtedly the most popular weapon of that time (19). A warrior did not go on a campaign without a spear.
Spearheads, like other types of weapons, bear the mark of various influences. The oldest local, Slavic arrowheads are a universal type with a leaf-shaped feather of medium width, suitable for hunting. Scandinavian ones are narrower, “lanceolate”, adapted for piercing armor, or vice versa - wide, wedge-shaped, laurel-leaved and diamond-shaped, designed to inflict severe wounds on an enemy not protected by armor.
For the XII – XIII centuries. The standard infantry weapon became a spear with a narrow “armor-piercing” four-wound tip about 25 cm long, which indicates the widespread use of metal defensive weapons. The sleeve of the tip was called vtok, the shaft was called oskep, oskepische, ratovishche or shaving. The length of the shaft of an infantry spear, judging by its images on frescoes, icons and miniatures, was about two meters.
Cavalry spears had narrow faceted tips of steppe origin, used to pierce armor. It was a first strike weapon. By the middle of the 12th century, the cavalry spear had become so long that it often broke during collisions. “Breaking the spear...” in squad poetry became one of the symbols of military valor. Chronicles also mention similar episodes when we're talking about about the prince: “Andrey break your copy against yours”; “Andrei Dyurgevich took up his spear and rode forward and came together before everyone else and broke his spear”; “Izyaslav rode alone into the military regiments, and broke his spear”; “Izyaslav Glebovich, grandson Yurgev, having arrived with his squad, took a spear... having driven the raft to the city gates, broke the spear”; “And Daniel struck his spear against the warrior, breaking his spear, and drew his sword.”
The Ipatiev Chronicle, written, in its main parts, by the hands of secular people - two professional warriors - describes such a technique almost as a ritual, which is close to Western knightly poetry, where such a blow is sung countless times.
In addition to the long and heavy cavalry and short main infantry spears, a hunting spear was used, although rarely. The horns had a feather width of 5 to 6.5 cm and a laurel tip length of up to 60 cm (including the bushing). To make it easier to hold this weapon. Two or three metal “knots” were attached to its shaft. In literature, especially fiction, a spear and an ax are often called peasant weapons, but a spear with a narrow tip capable of piercing armor is much cheaper than a spear and incomparably more effective. It occurs much more often.
Sulitsa darts have always been the favorite national weapon of the Eastern Slavs. They are often mentioned in chronicles. Moreover, as a piercing melee weapon. The tips of the sulitsa were both socketed, like those of spears, and stalked, like those of arrows, differing mainly in size. They often had ends pulled back, making it difficult to remove them from the body, and jagged, like a spear. The length of the throwing spear shaft ranged from 100 to 150 cm.
Bow and arrows have been used since ancient times as hunting and combat weapons. Bows were made from wood (juniper, birch, hazel, oak) or from turk horns. Moreover, in the north, simple bows of the European “barbarian” type from one piece of wood prevailed, and in the south, already in the 10th century, complex, composite bows of the Asian type became popular: powerful, consisting of several pieces or layers of wood, horn and bone overlays, very flexible and elastic. The middle part of such a bow was called the handle, and the rest was called the kibit. The long, curved halves of the bow were called horns or limbs. The horn consisted of two slats glued together. On the outside, it was covered with birch bark, and sometimes, for reinforcement, with horn or bone plates. The outer side of the horns was convex, the inner side was flat. Tendons were glued onto the bow and secured at the handle and ends. The joints of the horns with the handle, previously coated with glue, were wrapped with tendons. The glue used was high quality, made from sturgeon ridges. The ends of the horns had upper and lower pads. A string woven from veins passed through the lower ones. The total length of the bow, as a rule, was about a meter, but could exceed human height. Such bows had a special purpose.
They wore bows with a stretched string, in a leather case - a bow attached to the belt on the left side, with the mouth forward. Bow arrows could be made of reed, reed, or from various types of wood, such as apple or cypress. Their tips, often forged from steel, could be narrow, faceted - armor-piercing or lanceolate, chisel-shaped, pyramidal with lowered ends-stings, and vice versa - wide and even two-horned “cuts”, to form large wounds on an unprotected surface, etc. In the 9th – 11th centuries. Mostly flat arrowheads were used in the 12th - 13th centuries. – armor-piercing. A case for arrows in this period was called a tula or tula. It was hung from the belt on the right side. In the north and west of Rus', its form was close to the pan-European one, which is known, in particular, from the images on the Bayeux Tapestry, which tells about the Norman conquest of England in 1066. In the south of Rus', tuls were equipped with lids. So about the Kuryans in the same “Tale of Igor’s Host” it is said: “Their crowns are open,” i.e. brought into combat position. This tula had a round or box-shaped shape and was made of birch bark or leather.
At the same time, in Rus', most often by serving nomads, a steppe-type quiver was used, made from the same materials. Its form is immortalized in Polovtsian stone sculptures. This is a box that is wide at the bottom, open and tapering at the top, oval in cross-section. It was also suspended from the belt on the right side, with the mouth forward and upward, and the arrows in it, in contrast to the Slavic type, lay with their points upward.
Bow and arrows are weapons most often used by light cavalry - “streltsy” or infantry; the weapon that started the battle, although absolutely all men in Rus' at that time knew how to shoot a bow, this main weapon of hunting. Most people, including warriors, probably had a bow as a weapon, which made them different from Western European chivalry, where in the 12th century only the British, Norwegians, Hungarians and Austrians owned bows.
Much later, a crossbow or crossbow appeared in Rus'. It was much inferior to the bow in rate of fire and maneuverability, significantly surpassing it in price. In a minute, the crossbowman managed to fire 1-2 shots, while the archer, if necessary, was able to fire up to ten in the same time. But a crossbow with a short and thick metal bow and a wire bowstring was far superior to a bow in power, expressed in the range and impact force of the arrow, as well as accuracy. In addition, it did not require constant training from the shooter to maintain the skill. A crossbow “bolt” is a short self-propelled arrow, sometimes solid-forged in the West, piercing any shields and armor at a distance of two hundred steps, and maximum range firing from it reached 600 m.
This weapon came to Rus' from the West, through Carpathian Rus', where it was first mentioned in 1159. The crossbow consisted of a wooden stock with something like a butt and a powerful short bow attached to it. A longitudinal groove was made on the stock, into which a short and thick arrow with a socketed spear-shaped tip was inserted. Initially, the bow was made of wood and differed from the usual one only in size and thickness, but later it began to be made of an elastic steel strip. Only an extremely strong person could pull such a bow with his hands. An ordinary shooter had to rest his foot on a special stirrup attached to the stock in front of the bow and with an iron hook, holding it with both hands, pull the bowstring and put it into the slot of the trigger.
A special round-shaped trigger device, the so-called “nut”, made of bone or horn, was attached to the transverse axis. It had a slot for the bowstring and a figured cutout into which the end of the trigger lever entered, which, when not pressed, stopped the rotation of the nut on the axis, preventing it from releasing the bowstring.
In the 12th century. A double belt hook appeared in the crossbowmen's equipment, which made it possible to pull the bowstring, straightening the body and holding the weapon with the foot in the stirrup. The oldest belt hook in Europe was found in Volyn, during excavations in Izyaslavl (20).
From the beginning of the 13th century, a special mechanism of gears and a lever, the “rotary wheel,” began to be used to tighten the bowstring. Is this where the nickname of the Ryazan boyar Evpatiy - Kolovrat - comes from - for his ability to do without it? Initially, such a mechanism was apparently used on heavy machine tools, which often fired solid forged arrows. The gear from such a device was found on the ruins of the lost city of Vshchizh in the modern Bryansk region.
In the pre-Mongol period, the crossbow (crossbow) spread throughout Rus', but nowhere except the western and northwestern outskirts was its use widespread. As a rule, finds of crossbow arrow tips account for 1.5–2% of their total number (21). Even in Izborsk, where the largest number of them were found, they make up less than half (42.5%), inferior to the usual ones. In addition, a significant part of the crossbow arrowheads found in Izborsk are of the Western, socket type, most likely having flown into the fortress from outside (22). Russian crossbow arrows are usually stalked. In Rus', the crossbow was an exclusively serf weapon; in field warfare it was used only in the lands of Galicia and Volyn, and moreover, not earlier than the second third of the 13th century. - already outside the period we are considering.
With throwing machines East Slavs They met no later than the campaigns of the Kyiv princes to Constantinople. The church tradition about the baptism of the Novgorodians preserved evidence of how they, having dismantled the bridge across the Volkhov to the middle and installed a “vice” on it, threw stones at the Kyiv “crusaders” - Dobrynya and Putyata. However, the first documentary evidence of the use of stone throwers in Russian lands dates back to 1146 and 1152. when describing the inter-princely struggle for Zvenigorod Galitsky and Novgorod Seversky. Domestic weapons expert A.N. Kirpichnikov draws attention to the fact that around the same time, a translation of Josephus Flavius’ “The Jewish War” became known in Rus', where throwing machines are often mentioned, which could increase interest in them. Almost simultaneously, a hand-held crossbow also appeared here, which should also have led to experiments in creating more powerful stationary samples (23).
In the following, stone throwers are mentioned in 1184 and 1219; also known the fact of the capture of a mobile ballista-type throwing machine from the Polovtsians of Khan Konchak, in the spring of 1185. Indirect confirmation of the spread of throwing machines and easel crossbows capable of throwing cannonballs is the appearance of a complex echeloned system of fortifications. At the beginning of the 13th century, such a system of ramparts and ditches, as well as dams and dams located on the outside, rows of gouges and similar obstacles, was created with the aim of moving throwing machines beyond the effective range of their action.
At the beginning of the 13th century in the Baltic states, Polotsk residents, followed by Pskov and Novgorod residents, encountered the effects of throwing machines. The German crusaders entrenched here used stone throwers and crossbows against them. These were probably the most common balance-lever type machines in Europe at that time, the so-called peterellas, since stone throwers in chronicles are usually called “vices” or “praks”. those. slings. Apparently, similar machines prevailed in Rus'. In addition, the German chronicler Henry of Latvia often, speaking about the Russian defenders of Yuryev in 1224, mentions ballistae and ballistarii, which gives reason to talk about their use of not only hand crossbows.
In 1239, when trying to relieve Chernigov besieged by the Mongols, the townspeople helped their saviors by throwing swords at the Tatars with stones that only four loaders were able to lift. A machine of similar power operated in Chernigov several years before the invasion, when troops of the Volyn-Kiev-Smolensk coalition approached the city. Nevertheless, we can say with confidence that in most of Rus', throwing machines, like crossbows, were not widely used and were regularly used only in the south- and north-western lands. As a result, most cities, especially in the northeast, continued to arrive in readiness only for passive defense and turned out to be easy prey for conquerors equipped with powerful siege equipment.
At the same time, there is reason to believe that the city militia, which usually made up the majority of the army, was armed no worse than the feudal lords and their warriors. During the period under review, the percentage of cavalry in the city militias increased, and at the beginning of the 12th century, completely mounted campaigns in the steppe became possible, but even those who in the middle of the 12th century. there was not enough money to buy war horse, often found themselves armed with a sword. A case is known from the chronicle when a Kiev “footman” tried to kill a wounded prince with a sword (24). Owning a sword by that time had long ceased to be synonymous with wealth and nobility and corresponded to the status of a full member of the community. So, even “Russkaya Pravda” admitted that a “husband” who insulted another with a blow of a sword might not have the money to pay a fine. Another extremely interesting example on the same topic is given by I.Ya. Froyanov, referring to the Charter of Prince Vsevolod Mstislavich: “If a “robichich,” the son of a free man adopted from a slave, was supposed to take a horse and armor even from the “little belly...”, then we can safely say that in a society where such rules existed, weapons were an integral sign of free status, regardless of one’s social rank” (25). Let us add that we are talking about armor - an expensive weapon, which was usually considered (by analogy with Western Europe) to belong to professional warriors or feudal lords. In such a rich country, which pre-Mongol Rus' was in comparison with Western countries, a free person continued to enjoy his natural right to own any weapon, and at that time there were enough opportunities to exercise this right.
As you can see, any middle-income urban resident could have a war horse and a full set of weapons. There are many examples of this. In support, one can refer to archaeological research data. Of course, the excavation materials are dominated by arrowheads and spears, axes, flails and maces, and items of expensive weapons are usually found in the form of fragments, but it must be borne in mind that the excavations give a distorted picture: expensive weapons, along with jewelry, was considered one of the most valuable trophies. It was collected by the winners first. They searched for it deliberately or found it by accident later on. Naturally, finds of armor blades and helmets are relatively rare. It has been preserved. As a rule, something that was of no value to the victors and looters. Chain mail in general, in its entirety, seems to be more often found in water, hidden or abandoned, buried with its owners under ruins, than on the battlefield. This means that the typical set of weapons of a city militia warrior of the early 13th century was in fact far from being as poor as was commonly believed relatively recently. Continuous wars in which, along with dynastic interests, the economic interests of urban communities collided. They forced the townspeople to arm themselves to the same extent as the vigilantes, and their weapons and armor could only be inferior in price and quality.
This nature of socio-political life could not but affect the development of weapons craft. Demand generated supply. A.N. Kirpichnikov wrote about this: “An indicator of a high degree of armament ancient Russian society serves the nature of military craft production. In the 12th century, specialization in the manufacture of weapons noticeably deepened. Specialized workshops appeared for the production of swords, bows, helmets, chain mail, shields and other weapons.” “...Gradual unification and standardization of weapons are being introduced, examples of “serial” military production are appearing, which are becoming massive.” At the same time, “under the pressure of mass production, the differences in the manufacture of “aristocratic” and “plebeian”, ceremonial and folk weapons are increasingly erased. The increased demand for cheap products leads to limited production of unique designs and increased production of mass products (26). Who were the buyers? It is clear that most of them were not princely and boyar youths (although their number was growing), not the newly emerging layer of servicemen, conditional land holders - nobles, but primarily the population of growing and richer cities. “Specialization also affected the production of equipment cavalrymen. Saddles, bits, and spurs became mass products” (27), which undoubtedly indicates the quantitative growth of the cavalry.
Regarding the issue of borrowing in military affairs, in particular in weapons, A.N. Kirpichnikov noted: "R We are talking... about a much more complex phenomenon than simple borrowing, a delay in development or an original path; about a process that cannot be imagined as cosmopolitan, just as it cannot be contained within a “national” framework. The secret was that Russian early medieval military science as a whole, as well as military equipment, which absorbed the achievements of the peoples of Europe and Asia, were not only eastern, or only western, or only local. Rus' was a mediator between East and West, and Kyiv gunsmiths had a wide selection of military products from near and far countries. And the selection of the most acceptable types of weapons occurred constantly and actively. The difficulty was that the weapons of European and Asian countries traditionally different. It is clear that the creation of a military-technical arsenal was not reduced to the mechanical accumulation of imported products. The development of Russian weapons cannot be understood as an indispensable and constant crossing and alternation of foreign influences alone. Imported weapons were gradually processed and adapted to local conditions (for example, swords). Along with borrowing other people’s experience, their own samples were created and used...” (28).
It is necessary to specifically address the issue on the import of weapons. A.N. Kirpichnikov, contradicting himself, denies the import of weapons to Rus' in the 12th – early 13th centuries. on the basis that all researchers during this period noted the beginning of mass, replicated production of standard weapons. This in itself cannot serve as proof of the absence of imports. Suffice it to recall the appeal of the author of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign” to the Volyn princes. A distinctive feature of the weapons of their troops is called “Latin sheloms”, “Lyatsky sulitsa (i.e. Polish Yu.S.) and shields”.
What were the “Latin” ones? Western European helmets at the end of the 12th century? This type, most often, is deep and deaf, only with slits - slits for the eyes and holes for breathing. Thus, the army of the Western Russian princes looked completely European, since, even if we exclude imports, there remained such channels of foreign influence as contacts with allies or military booty (trophies). At the same time, the same source mentions “Kharalu swords”, i.e. damask steel, of Middle Eastern origin, but the reverse process also took place. Russian plate armor was popular in Gotland and in the eastern regions of Poland (the so-called “Mazovian armor”) and in the later era of the dominance of solid forged armor (29). The shield is of the “lucky” type, with a shared groove in the middle, according to A.N. Kirpichnikov, spread across Western Europe from Pskov (30).
It should be noted that the “Russian weapons complex” has never represented a single whole in the vastness of the vast country. In different parts of Rus' there were local peculiarities, preferences determined primarily by the enemy’s weapons. The western and steppe southeastern border zones stood out noticeably from the general massif. In some places they preferred a whip, in others they preferred spurs, a saber over a sword, a crossbow over a bow, etc.
Kievan Rus and its historical successors - the Russian lands and principalities - were at that time a huge laboratory where military affairs were improved, changing under the influence of warlike neighbors, but without losing the national basis. Both the weapons-technical side and the tactical side absorbed heterogeneous foreign elements and, processing them, combined them, forming unique phenomenon, whose name is “Russian way”, “Russian custom”, which made it possible to successfully defend against the West and East with different weapons and different techniques.
1. Mishulin A.V. Materials on the history of the ancient Slavs //Bulletin of Ancient History. 1941. No. 1. P.237, 248, 252-253.
2. Shtritter I.M. News of Byzantine historians explaining the Russian history of ancient times and the migration of peoples. St. Petersburg 1770. P.46; Garkavi A.Ya. Tales of Muslim writers about the Slavs and Russians. St. Petersburg 1870. pp. 265 – 266.
3. Gorelik M. Warriors of Kievan Rus // Tseichgauz. M. 1993. No. 1. P. 20.
4. Shinakov E.A. On the way to the power of Rurikovich. Bryansk; St. Petersburg, 1995. P. 118.
5. Quote. by: Shaskolsky I.P. Rus''s struggle to maintain access to Baltic Sea in the 14th century L.; Science, 1987. P.20.
6. Artsikhovsky A.V. Weapons // History of culture of Kievan Rus / Ed. B.D. Grekova. M.;L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1951. T.1.S417; Military history of the Fatherland from ancient times to the present day. M.: Mosgorarchiv, 1995.T.1.S.67.
7. Gorelik M. Military affairs of ancient Europe // Encyclopedia for children. World History. M.: Avanta+, 1993. P. 200.
8. Gorelik M. Warriors of Kievan Rus. P.22.
9. Shinakov E.A. On the way to the power of Rurikovich. P.117.
10. Gorelik M. Warriors of Kievan Rus. P. 23.
11. Ibid. P. 22.
12. Artsikhovsky A.V. Decree. op. T.!. P. 418.
13. Complete collection of Russian chronicles (PSRL). L.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1926, T.1. Stb.78.
14. Makarov N.A. Russian North: mysterious Middle Ages. M.: b.i., 1993.P.138.
15. A word about Igor’s campaign. M. Children's literature, 1978. P. 52.
16. Shinakov E.A. Decree. op. P.107.
17. Makarov N.A. Decree. op. pp. 137 – 138.
18. Kirpichnikov A.N. Massive melee weapons from the excavations of ancient Izyaslavl // Brief communications of the Institute of Archeology (KSIA) M.: Nauka, 1978. No. 155. P.83.
19. Ibid. P. 80.
20. Kirpichnikov A.N. Hook for pulling a crossbow (1200 - 1240) // KSIA M.: Nauka, 1971. No. S. 100 - 102.
21. Kirpichnikov A.N. Military affairs in Rus' in the XIII - XV centuries. Leningrad: Nauka, 1976. P.67.
22. Artemyev A.R. Arrowheads from Izborsk // KSIA. 1978. No. P. 67-69.
23. Kirpichnikov A.N. Military affairs in Rus' in the XIII – XV centuries. P. 72.
24. PSRL. M.: Publishing House of Eastern Literature, 1962. T.2. Stb. 438 – 439.
25. Froyanov I.Ya. Kievan Rus. Essays on socio-political history. L.: Leningrad State University Publishing House, 1980. P. 196.
26. Kirpichnikov A.N. Military affairs in Rus' IX - XV centuries. Author's abstract. doc. diss. M.: 1975. P. 13; aka. Old Russian weapons. M.; L.: Nauka, 1966. Vol. 2. pp. 67, 73.
27. Kirpichnikov A.N. Military affairs in Rus' IX - XV centuries. Author's abstract. doc. diss. P.13; aka. Equipment of the rider and horse in Rus' IX - XIII centuries. L.: Nauka, 1973. P. 16, 57, 70.
28. Kirpichnikov A.N. Military affairs in Rus' IX - XV centuries. P. 78.
29. Kirpichnikov A.N. Military affairs in Rus' in the XIII - XV centuries. P.47.
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Despite the fact that in Ancient Rus' the cult of the sword was less widespread than, for example, in medieval Japan, it undoubtedly existed, and it was given a very significant place in the life of our ancestors. Being both a military weapon and a sacred attribute during the performance of many sacred rites (especially in the pagan period), the sword firmly entered Russian history and became important element national culture.
The sword as an attribute of folklore
The ancient Slavs, like other inhabitants of that era, used the sword as their main weapon for many centuries. With its help they fought off the attacks of foreigners, and with it they themselves went to rob their neighbors. If some Serpent Gorynych happened to get in the way, then his heads would roll on the ground, cut down with the same sword.
These weapons became an integral part of their lives to such an extent that they were vividly reflected in the folk epic. It is enough to open a collection of Slavic epics, and you will inevitably come across such expressions as “heroic sword”, “treasury sword”, “sword ─ a hundred heads from the shoulders”, “self-cutter sword”, self-cutting sword”, etc. In addition, its acquisition and further possession always provided the hero with the protection of certain mystical powers and made him invincible.
Is a sword a piercing or cutting weapon?
This is how the sword is presented in epics, but what can modern historians tell about it? First of all, it is necessary to refute the common misconception that the most ancient Slavic swords were exclusively chopping weapons and had not a point, but a rounded end. Despite the absurdity of this point of view, it turned out to be surprisingly tenacious. People of the older generation obviously remember that previously, even in illustrations for editions of folk epics, the swords of Slavic heroes were depicted, as a rule, with rounded ends.
In fact, this contradicts not only the results of scientific research, but simply common sense, since the fencing technique involves not only chopping, but also piercing blows. This is understandable, since a shell or any other armor is easier to pierce than to cut.
Below it will be noted that the first most common swords of the ancient Slavs (Carolingian) were imported from Western Europe, where they were produced according to the samples used in Ancient Rome. Thus, Russian and ancient Roman swords were, although distant, but still “related,” which gives the right to assume a certain commonality in them.
In this regard, it would be appropriate to recall the ancient Roman historian Tacitus, who, in describing military operations, repeatedly emphasized the advantages of a piercing strike, which was more rapid and required less space for its execution. In the Icelandic sagas there is a mention of how warriors committed suicide by throwing themselves on the edge of a sword.
And although there is no description of Slavic swords in domestic chronicles, since the main task of these documents was to highlight the general course of historical events, without excessive detail, there is every reason to believe that the weapons of our ancestors were in many ways identical to those that were then used in Western Europe, and also before - in Ancient Rome.
Swords from the Carolingian dynasty
Conventionally, the swords of Slavic warriors, according to their external features, can be divided into Carolingian and Romanesque. The first of them appeared in Rus' in the 9th century, that is, back in the pagan period of its history, but in general, a similar design was developed a century earlier by Western European gunsmiths. In the article, swords of this type are presented in the 2nd and 3rd photographs.
The name of this type of sword is explained by the fact that they appeared in Western Europe at the final stage of the era of the Great Migration, when most of the states that were part of it were united under the rule of Charlemagne, who became the founder of the Carolingian dynasty. Their design is an improved development of ancient swords, such as the spatha - a bladed weapon that was widespread in Ancient Rome.
In addition to the external features of the Carolingian type swords, which are clearly visible in the photograph presented in the article, their distinctive feature was the blade manufacturing technology, which was very advanced for that time. It provided increased hardness of the cutting edge and at the same time protected the blade from excessive fragility, which could lead to its breakage.
This was achieved by welding blades forged from steel with a high carbon content onto a relatively soft iron base. Moreover, both the blades themselves and their bases were made using a variety of technologies, which were usually kept secret. Making swords of this type was a very complex process, which inevitably affected their cost. Therefore, they were attributes only of rich people ─ princes and governors.
For the bulk of military men, there was a simplified, and therefore cheaper, design of the Carolingian sword. There were no welded high-strength linings, and the entire blade was forged from simple iron, but at the same time it had undergone cementation ─ heat treatment, which made it possible to slightly increase its strength.
As a rule, swords of the Carolingian type, regardless of whether they were made for the nobility or for ordinary warriors, reached a length of 95-100 cm and weighed from 1.5 to 2 kg. Larger examples are known to historians, but they are quite rare and were apparently made to order. The handles of the swords consisted of elements traditional for such designs, such as a rod, a pommel (a thickening at the end of the handle) and a crosshair. They are easy to see in the attached photograph.
Romanesque sword - a weapon of the Capetian era
At a later date historical period, which began in the 11th century and spanned the next two centuries, the so-called Romanesque sword became widespread, examples of which can be seen in the 4th and 5th photographs in this article. Its homeland is also Western Europe, where, due to its high cost, at an early stage it was an attribute exclusively of the knightly class. Another fairly common name for this sword is Capetian. It originated similarly to the Carolingian from the name of the ruling dynasty, this time the Capetians, which was firmly established by that time and had the widest influence on European politics.
This sword also has a third name, which has appeared in our time. Together with later samples dating back to the 14th-15th centuries, it is classified by researchers and collectors in a group designated by the general term “knight’s swords”. Under this name it is often mentioned in popular science and fiction literature.
Features of such swords
Many researchers note that in the West this type of sword played a rather auxiliary role as a weapon, but was considered as an important distinguishing feature of social status. In most European states of the Late Middle Ages, only nobles had the right to wear it, and girdling with a sword was an integral part of the knighting ritual. At the same time, the law prohibited its possession and wearing by persons from lower social strata. Once in Rus', the Romanesque sword also at an early stage became the property of only the upper classes.
The main distinguishing features of these swords, which usually had a discreet appearance and were devoid of any decoration, were the design and technique of their manufacture. Even at a cursory glance, attention is drawn to their rather wide blades, which have a lens-shaped (biconvex) cross-section and are equipped with fullers ─ longitudinal recesses designed to reduce its weight while maintaining overall strength.
Unlike the blades of Carolingian swords, they did not have linings, but were made either from a single piece of high-strength steel or by the lamination method, in which the shell was quite strong, but the soft core remained inside. The forged sword was thus very strong and sharp, but at the same time elastic and resilient, which reduced its fragility.
An important feature of laminated blades was the relatively low labor intensity of manufacturing, which significantly reduced their cost. Thanks to this, having arrived in Rus' in the 11th century, swords of this type became attributes not only of princes, but also of their numerous warriors. They became even more widespread after they began to be produced by local gunsmiths.
Two-handed swords
Over time, a new modification of swords of this type appeared. If previously they were all one-handed, then gunsmiths began to produce two-handed swords made on the basis of this technology. It was no longer a ceremonial weapon, but a purely military weapon. Their elongated handles made it possible to hold the sword with both hands and thus deliver stronger and more destructive blows to the enemy. Despite the fact that the dimensions of the sword were only slightly larger than those of its predecessor, the desired effect was achieved due to a significant increase in the mass of the blade. Only in some specimens that have come down to us does its length exceed 100-110 cm.
Handles for both one-handed and two-handed swords were made mainly of wood. Much less often, materials such as horn, bone or metal were used for this purpose. Their design was not varied. Only two main variants are known: composite (of two separate halves) and solid tubular. In any case, the handle had an oval shape in cross-section. Depending on the wishes and capabilities of the customer, it had a certain coating, which created additional convenience and at the same time was an element of the decorative design of the entire sword.
In the photographs of Romanesque swords presented in this article, it is clearly visible that their crosspieces differ significantly from those with which their Carolingian predecessors were equipped. Thin and long, they served as reliable protection for the warrior from blows against the enemy’s shield. Despite the fact that similar crosspieces appeared in the previous era, they became widely used only in Romanesque swords, becoming one of their distinctive features. They were made both straight and curved.
The secret of the Persian gunsmiths
In addition to the blade manufacturing technologies described above, their production from damask steel has also become widespread. Such products have earned such great fame that in the folk epic heroes struck enemies exclusively with damask swords. Even the word “damask steel” itself became a common noun and included whole line concepts associated with combat prowess and courage. By the way, it came from the name of one of the localities Ancient Persia─ Puluadi, where products made from this type of steel first appeared.
As for the purely technical term “damask steel”, it is a general name for a number of alloys obtained by combining hard and viscous types of iron and further increasing their carbon content. In a number of indicators, damask steel is close to cast iron, but significantly exceeds it in hardness. In addition, it is forgeable and hardens well.
The manufacturing technology of damask steel, from which many types of Slavic swords were forged, is very complex and was kept secret for a long time. An external distinctive feature of damask steel is the presence on the surface of products made from it of a characteristic pattern resembling a pattern. It occurs from incomplete mixing of its constituent components (which is an important part technological process), each of which is visible due to its special shade. In addition, the main advantage of damask blades is their extraordinary hardness and elasticity.
Researchers do not have a common opinion about when damask steel appeared. It is only known for certain that the first mentions of it are found in the works of Aristotle dating back to the 4th century BC. e. In Rus', the production of damask blades was established back in pagan times, but they were forged exclusively from steel imported into the country by overseas merchants. As mentioned above, the technology for its production was stored oriental masters in the strictest confidence, therefore all daggers, sabers, one-handed and two-handed swords, as well as other domestically produced edged weapons were produced from imported raw materials.
In Russia, the secret of damask steel was discovered only in 1828 at the Zlatoust plant by a prominent mining engineer of that time, Major General Pavel Petrovich Anosov, who, after numerous experiments, managed to obtain a material completely similar to the famous Persian steel.
Blacksmith master
The craftsmen who produced in their forges all the edged weapons of Ancient Rus', from daggers to swords, deserve special attention. It is known that their profession was considered honorable, and those who specialized in the production of swords were generally surrounded by a mystical aura. The chronicle has preserved for us the name of one of these craftsmen - Ludota, who forged damask swords back in the 9th century and became very famous for their exceptional quality.
In Ancient Rus', and especially in the pre-Christian period of its history, the pagan god Svarog, the keeper of certain sacred knowledge, was considered the patron of blacksmiths. Before starting to forge the next sword, the master always made a sacrifice to it and only after that began work. At the same time, the priests performed a number of magical actions, thereby turning the ordinary work of a craftsman into a kind of sacrament, for which they received the due fee.
It is known that damask steel, for all its advantages, is very capricious and difficult to process, so special skill and skill was required from the blacksmith. Considering its extreme high cost, it is clear that only true craftsmen who made up a certain, extremely closed corporation could forge damask swords.
Custom made swords
Both in private collections and in the collections of various museums around the world, Slavic swords are often found, made to order and bearing certain distinctive features of their owners. One of these swords can be seen in the photo above. They are distinguished from other examples of ancient weapons by the finishing of the handles, for which non-ferrous and also precious metals, enamel and blackening were widely used.
It was not customary to indicate the owner of the sword on the hilt or blade, but special importance was attached to the depiction of mythological scenes associated with it and the inscription of the names of ancient gods or totem animals. In accordance with this, the swords received their names. Thus, today there are known swords called Basilisk, Reuvit, Kitovras, Indraka and many other names of representatives of ancient mythology.
As you can see, this custom had very specific reasons. The owners of swords were warriors who were famous, if not for personal valor, then at least for the military exploits of their squads. The mere mention of their swords was supposed to terrify possible opponents.
In addition to the finishing of the weapon, its design features. For example, the weight of the sword and its dimensions usually corresponded to the physical capabilities of the customer. Therefore, by identifying this or that specimen with a specific historical person, historians received additional information about him.
The sacred meaning of the sword among the Slavs in ancient times
It is also interesting to note the fact that the people’s attitude towards everyone in general Slavic swords had a somewhat sacred connotation. For example, the custom of the ancient Russians was known to place a naked sword near their newborn son, as if symbolizing that in the future he would have to gain wealth and glory through military exploits.
Magic swords, with the help of which our ancient ancestors carried out certain religious rituals, occupied a special place. Runic spells were applied to their blades and hilts, giving the owner the strength to resist not only real opponents, but also all kinds of mystical forces.
A number of similar artifacts were discovered by archaeologists during excavations of ancient burials. Their findings are explained by the belief that existed among the ancient Slavs, according to which a sword that had mystical powers always died with the death or natural death of its owner. He was lowered into the owner's grave, performing certain magical actions. It was believed that after this all his sacred power was taken away by Mother Earth. Therefore, swords stolen from burial mounds did not bring good luck to anyone.
The sword is a symbol of military valor and glory
The sword, which for many centuries was the main weapon of the Russian warrior-combatant, served at the same time as a symbol of princely power and was a kind of emblem of the military glory of Russia. It is no coincidence that his cult survived even after edged weapons were everywhere replaced by firearms. Suffice it to remember that many signs of military valor were applied precisely to blades and hilts.
The sword has not lost its symbolic and partly sacred meaning in modern world. Suffice it to recall the famous figure of the Warrior-Liberator, created by the sculptor E. V. Vuchetich and installed in Berlin's Treptower Park. Its most important element is the Sword of Victory. He also appears in another work by the sculptor - the figure of the Motherland, which is the center of the memorial ensemble on Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd. E. V. Vuchetich created this work in creative collaboration with his colleague ─ N. N. Nikitin.
The article talks about the types of weapons used and manufactured in ancient Rus'.
Among the Eastern European peoples, as well as among the peoples of Western Europe, one of the main types of edged weapons was the sword. Those samples of swords that were typical for the weapons of Russian soldiers are conventionally divided into two main groups - Carolingian and Romanesque.
Swords of the Carolingian type date back to the period of the 9th - first half of the 11th century. Finds of such swords, and a total of more than a hundred specimens were discovered, are concentrated in several regions of Ancient Rus': in the South-Eastern Ladoga region, in some areas of the Smolensk region, Yaroslavl, Novgorod, Chernigov and Kyiv.
Such weapons, judging by the richness of their decoration, could have belonged to princely warriors, princes, and wealthy townspeople.
As for their basic geometric parameters, the blades of these swords, with a total length of the weapon itself of about a meter, were practically identical, very wide - up to 6 - 6.5 cm, flat and equipped with fullers, which in their width occupied about a third of the total width of the blade and slightly tapered towards its tip. The length of the blades was about 90 cm. They had a rounded end, and therefore were intended mainly for delivering a chopping blow. The hilts of the swords had massive boat-shaped crosshairs of small width and large mushroom-shaped pommels.
Historians have had very long debates regarding the place of production of swords found on the territory of Ancient Rus'. Sometimes they were considered Scandinavian, sometimes Russian. But as a result of the work carried out to clean the blades of many hundreds of swords, it turned out that the vast majority of the samples were made on the territory of the Frankish state, and for the most part in several workshops located on the Rhine. Evidence of this is the numerous marks that Frankish craftsmen left on the blades of swords. As a rule, these were their names or family brands. The most common blades are marked Ulfberht, Ingeirii (or Ingelred), Cerolt, Ulen, Leutlrit, Lun. In addition to name marks, there were also marks in the form of various kinds of geometric signs or simple drawings. Blades with similar marks were also produced in the Frankish state.
As for the hilts and sheaths, they, as a rule, were produced by local workshops in accordance with the tastes of specific customers. Many swords of ancient Russian warriors have hilts made by Scandinavian craftsmen or in the Scandinavian style.
An interesting specimen of the sword was discovered in the town of Foshchevataya near Mirgorod. Its handle was made in the Scandinavian style, so most researchers considered it a typical Varangian weapon. Everything changed when his blade was cleared. Marks made in Slavic letters were found on it. On one side of the blade there was the inscription “koval”, which means “blacksmith”, on the other - a not entirely legible word, which presumably reads like the Slavic name “Lyudota” or “Lyudosha”. As a result, the only blade so far has been discovered, about which we can say with certainty that it was made by a Russian master.
Swords belonging to the so-called Romanesque type date back to the period of the 11th - 14th centuries. In total, 75 similar swords were discovered on the territory of Ancient Rus'.
In terms of their weight characteristics and geometric dimensions, they are somewhat inferior to samples of the Romanesque type. Romanesque swords of the second half of the 12th century. somewhat lighter - they weigh about 1 kg, have a slightly shorter length - about 86 cm and the width of their blades is 0.5 - 1.5 cm narrower than those of the swords of the 10th century. The valleys of the blades narrow and turn into a narrow groove.
However, in the second half of the 12th century and especially in the first half of the 13th century, some heavier cutting weapons were again observed, due to the process of strengthening the armor. Quite long, up to 120 cm, and heavy, up to 2 kg, swords appeared, surpassing in their parameters even the samples of the 9th - 10th centuries. The design of the handles has also changed. The crosshairs of the swords stretched out and began to reach a length of up to 18 - 20 cm (compared to the crosshairs of previous samples, the length of which was 9-12 cm). To prevent the sword from pinching the hand while chopping, the shaft of its handle was lengthened to 12 cm. The blades of the swords acquired quite definite points at the end, so that now it became convenient not only to chop, but also to stab with the sword. Just like the previous type of swords, Romanesque blades were mostly marked with the marks of Western craftsmen.
Undoubtedly, on the territory of Ancient Rus' there was its own blade production. However, we have to admit that the products of Western gunsmiths still predominated quantitatively.
From the last third of the 10th century, Russian soldiers began to use a saber, borrowed along with its very name from the Khazar-Magyar weapon complex. These weapons, obviously, were used only by mounted warriors, and, judging by the richness of the decor, they belonged to the princely-retinue stratum.
The blades of sabers from the 10th - first half of the 11th centuries reached a length of about 1 m, the curvature of the strip was 3 - 4.5 cm, the width of the blade was 3 - 3.7 cm. Later, by the 13th century, the sabers lengthened somewhat, gained weight, and the width and curvature of the blade also increased noticeably. The sabers lengthened by 10 - 17 cm, the curvature increased to 4.5 - 5.5 cm, and in some cases- and up to 7 cm, the width of the blades averaged 3.8 cm.
No less important a weapon than a sword or saber in Rus' was a spear. Unlike bladed weapons, spears were much more widespread. The spear tips had a wide variety of shapes: from lanceolate to elongated triangular. The total length of the spear together with the shaft was about 3 m. Such a weapon was adapted for delivering a ramming blow.
In the 12th century. Laurel-shaped spears are becoming widespread. The curvilinear bend of their blade is characterized by great smoothness and symmetry. The appearance of these massive tips with a smoothly pointed feather indicates an increase in the strength and striking power of the weapon, in this case having its own name - a slingshot. Among the Old Russian spears, even reaching a length of 40 - 50 cm and a blade width of 5 - 6 cm, there are no heavier (700 - 1000 g versus 200 - 240 g for an ordinary spear), powerful and wide tips than the spears. The shape and size of pre-Mongol horns amazingly coincided with samples from the 15th - 17th centuries, which made it possible to identify them and distinguish them from archaeological material. Such a spear could withstand a strong blow without breaking. The rod could pierce the most powerful armor, but due to its heavy weight, it was apparently inconvenient to use it in battle (especially in a horse fight).
A very common weapon was the axe. About 1,600 of them were found on the territory of Ancient Rus'. Three groups can be distinguished: 1) special battle axes-hammers (chased), with decorations, characteristic in design and small in size; 2) axes - a universal tool for campaigning and combat - resembled industrial axes, but were smaller than them; 3) working axes, heavy and massive, were probably rarely used in war. The usual sizes of axes of the first two groups are: blade length 9-15 cm, width up to 10 - 12 cm, butt hole diameter 2 - 3 cm, weight up to 450 g (minted - 200 - 350 g). Working axes are noticeably larger: length from 15 to 22 cm (usually 17 - 18 cm), blade width 9-14 cm, sleeve diameter 3 - 4.5 cm, weight usually 600 - 800 g.
Military axes are smaller and lighter, because they had to be carried on a campaign.
Chekan is a purely battle axe, distinguished by the fact that the back side of the butt is equipped with a hammer. The blades of the coins are either oblong-triangular in shape or have a semi-lunar notch. An exclusively military purpose can be recognized for narrow-bladed small hatchets with a carved butt and lateral promontory processes - cheeks.
Axes with a wide, symmetrically diverging blade belong to a completely special group. At the end of the 1st millennium they were widespread throughout the North of Europe. The combat use of such axes by Anglo-Saxon and Norman infantry is immortalized in the famous carpet embroidery from Bayeaux (1066 - 1082). Judging by this embroidery, the length of the ax shaft is about a meter or more. In Rus', these axes are typical mainly for northern regions, some were found in peasant burial mounds.
In the XII - XIII centuries. Chasings and beard-shaped axes become typical.
Maces appeared in the Russian army in the 11th century. as a southeastern borrowing. Their collective Old Russian name is cue (in Polish this is still the name for a stick, especially a heavy one). Among the most ancient Russian finds are iron pommels (less often bronze) in the shape of a cube with four cross-shaped tenons (or a cube with cut corners).
The production of maces reached its peak in the 12th - 13th centuries, when bronze cast pommels of perfect and complex shapes with four and twelve pyramidal spikes (rarely more) appeared. The weight of the pommels is 200 - 300 g, the length of the handle is 50 - 60 cm.
The need to pierce and crush armor arose in the first half of the 13th century. innovations: clubs with a one-sided protrusion in the form of a beak - a peck, as well as poles.
Flail
Horse fighting also gave birth to flails. This is a light (200 - 250 g) and mobile weapon, allowing you to deliver a deft and sudden blow in the thick of a close fight. Flails came to Rus' in the 10th century, like maces, from the regions of the nomadic East and were used by troops until the end of the 16th century.
Bow and arrow, the most important ranged weapon and commercial hunting, were extremely widely used in Ancient Rus'. Almost all more or less significant battles could not be done without archers and began with a shootout.
Byzantine historian of the 10th century. Leo the Deacon noted the enormous role of archers in the army of the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav.
The design and components of the ancient Russian compound bow, as well as the bows of neighboring peoples of Eastern Europe, have been clarified quite well from archaeological materials. The components of the Old Russian bow had special names: the middle of the bow was called the handle, the long elastic parts on either side of it were called the horns or shoulders of the bow, and the ends with cutouts for the bowstring loops were called the ends. The side of the bow facing the target during shooting was called the back, and the side facing the shooter was called the inner side (or belly, as among the Arabs). The joints of individual parts (base with ends, handle plates with shoulders, etc.) were fastened with windings of tendon threads and called shoulders.
Bow strings were made from plant fibers, silk thread and rawhide.
The strength of medieval bows was enormous - up to 80 kg (among Arabs, Turks, Russians and other peoples). A bow with a strength of 20 to 40 kg was considered optimal (modern sports bows for men have a strength of 20 kg - like the weakest of the medieval bows).
When archery, devices were widely used to protect the archer's hands from damage: gloves and shoulder pads, guards for the wrist of the left hand and bone or horn rings for index finger right hand.
For convenience and safety, the bow was worn suspended from a belt or on a belt over the shoulder in a special case - the bow. Arrows were carried in a separate case - a quiver, with the feathers facing up, usually up to 20 arrows per quiver.
In Rus', arrows were usually made from pine, spruce, and birch. Their length most often ranged from 75 to 90 cm, thickness - from 7 to 10 mm. The surface of the arrow shaft must be flat and smooth, otherwise the shooter will seriously injure his hand. The shafts were processed using bone knife blades and polished with sandstone whetstones.
Arrowheads were mounted on the shaft in two ways, depending on the shape of the attachment: bushing or stalk. Socketed tips were put on the shaft, stalked ones were inserted into its end. In Rus' and among nomads, the vast majority of arrows had stemmed tips; among their western neighbors, socketed ones were more widely used. Both the nozzle and the driving were done with glue for strength. After fitting, the petiole tips were secured with a winding of glue to prevent the shaft from splitting. On top of the winding, the end of the shaft was covered with a thin strip of birch bark, so that the unsmooth winding would not reduce the speed and cause deviations in flight.
The fletching of the arrow was most often made with two feathers. The feathers were selected so that their natural bend was directed in one direction and gave the arrow rotation - then it flew more steadily.
Arrowheads, depending on their purpose, had very different shapes: flat and faceted, narrow and wide, two-horned (for hunting waterfowl) and two-horned (these did not allow the wounded to pull the arrow out of the body without widening the wound). Arrows with wide cutting tips were called shears and were used in battle against unprotected (unarmored) people and horses. Special forms had narrow, massive armor-piercing tips: against chain mail - awl-shaped, against plate armor, shields and helmets - chisel-shaped and faceted.
Daggers in Rus' were not among the most common types of weapons. In their form and design they were very similar to knightly daggers of the 12th - 13th centuries.
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